One of the better movies that exists in the public domain, Detour is a seminal film noir starring Tom Neal as a hapless hitchhiker, and co-starring Ann Savage as a femme fatale so screechingly mean it’s a wonder Atticus Finch doesn’t suddenly appear and shoot her for having rabies. The poster is a classic too, one of the best of the film noir era. Hey, there’s an idea: top 10 film noir posters. Maybe we’ll put something together. Maybe we’ll also discuss Mr. Neal, who murdered his third wife by shooting her in the back of the head. In the meantime, see a classic promo shot of Ann Savage here. Detour premiered in the U.S. today in 1945.

At left is actress Ann Savage in a still from Detour, the 1945 film that helped define the classic femme fatale. The film was shot in only six days, but her turn as the amoral hitchhiker Vera resonated with audiences. Over the decades since its release Detour has become one of the most popular low budget noirs of all time, in no small part because of its entry into the public domain as an uncopyrighted work that any television station can broadcast without paying royalties. But it also has survived because of Ms. Savage's bravura turn as the female lead. Ann Savage died yesterday at age 87.

American comedian Lou Costello, of the famous comedy team Abbott & Costello, dies of a heart attack at Doctors' Hospital in Beverly Hills, three days before his 53rd birthday. His career spanned radio and film, silent movies and talkies, vaudeville and cinema, and in his heyday he was, along with partner Abbott, one of the most beloved personalities in Hollywood.

1933—King Kong Opens

The first version of King Kong, starring Bruce Cabot, Robert Armstrong and Fay Wray, and with the giant ape Kong brought to life with stop-action photography, opens at Radio City Music Hall in New York City. The film goes on to play worldwide to good reviews and huge crowds, and spawns numerous sequels and reworkings over the next eighty years.

1949—James Gallagher Completes Round-the-World Flight

Captain James Gallagher and a crew of fourteen land their B-50 Superfortress named Lucky Lady II in Fort Worth, Texas, thus completing the first non-stop around-the-world airplane flight. The entire trip from takeoff to touchdown took ninety-four hours and one minute.

1953—Oscars Are Shown on Television

The 26th Academy Awards are broadcast on television by NBC, the first time the awards have been shown on television. Audiences watch live as From Here to Eternity wins for Best Picture, and William Holden and Audrey Hepburn earn statues in the best acting categories for Stalag 17 and Roman Holiday.

1912—First Parachute Jump Takes Place

Albert Berry jumps from a biplane traveling at 1,500 feet and lands by parachute at Jefferson Barracks, Missouri. The 36 foot diameter chute was contained in a metal canister attached to the underside of the plane, and when Berry dropped from the plane his weight pulled the canopy from the canister. Rather than being secured into the chute by a harness, Berry was seated on a trapeze bar. It's possible he was only the second man to accomplish a parachute landing, as there are some accounts of someone accomplishing the feat in California several months earlier.

1932—Lindbergh Baby Is Kidnapped

The twenty-month-old son of aviator Charles Lindbergh, Charles Augustus Lindbergh III, is kidnapped from the family home in East Amwell, New Jersey. Over two months later the toddler's body is discovered in woods a short distance from the home. A medical examination determines that he had died of a massive skull fracture. A German carpenter named Bruno Hauptmann is arrested, tried, and convicted for the crime. He is sentenced to death and executed in April 1936.

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